First a reminder while AAS aren’t a major target on anyone’s radar, they are technically Scheduled drugs under US, Chinese, and international law just like Fentanyl, and no less illegal.
Also let’s not forget “raws” = precursor chemicals, and get lumped in with all other “synthetic drug precursors”.
————-
They’re all stretching for something easy to understand.
This is as close to it as you’re going to find.
China has long not only allowed, but encouraged the export of controlled drug precursors. Fentanyl has been the headline, but the official documents reporting on China’s dirty business always say “fentanyl and other synthetic drug precursors”. AAS falls under “other synthetic drugs”.
This is a violation of international treaties they’re obligated to follow, and against China’s own laws, but like everything else in that surveillance state, nothing goes on for long unless the CCP wants it to. They’ve paid lip service to “enforcement” for years, while not only looking the other way but generously subsidized the black market for drug precursor chemicals with tax rebates.
The crackdown, which was not only against AAS raws, but several hundred chemicals listed among those banned by international law from export to unauthorized parties, happened weeks after the last US election and an attempt to head off what had been long brewing in the US: severe trade sanctions to force the CCP to stop being the world’s major source of synthetic drug precursors.
It didn’t work, and in additional to other tariffs, a special drug related 20% punitive tariff was put into place, along with the condition that it wouldn’t be removed until there was evidence of the Chinese government getting out of the controlled drug business.
By my rough calculations, that “drug tariff” cost China around $7 billion in trade losses so far this year.
And now it looks like Chinese crackdowns that started last year are having an impact.
Fentanyl seizures and deaths are way down. Alternate synthetic opioids appeared that didn’t use the same precursors, but those are disappearing as well.
The are reports of fentanyl, which many addicts developed a taste for and no longer only got by being tricked into thinking it was another drug, is being cut with heroin, which had almost disappeared since fentanyl was so cheap. Now that fentanyl is getting tight, with the return of the Taliban Afghanistan has supposedly ramped up supply of heroin to meet opiate demand.
There’s been a recent shift on the street back to Meth, both to avoid th overdose death risk everyone knows aging but because Mexican cartels can make it very cheap without relying on Chinese chemicals. Cocaine from Columbia via Venezuela made a big comeback in the last year, being cheaper than ever, so we’ll probably see the 1990’s crackhead walk return to replace the “fentanyl slump” in inner cities soon.
The US just announced half the 20% drug penalty tariff was being removed for China’s “cooperation” against synthetic drugs. It looks like, at least for now, China’s decided being a worldwide narco supplier state wasn’t worth the price being imposed.
A year’s worth of illegal drug precursor profits probably wasn’t equal to a day’s worth of lost Chinese plastic straw exports. Definately not worth the $7 billion and counting in lost trade revenue.
Since half the special drug tariff is still in place, that China would like to see removed, and the half just suspended could easily snap back if bags of controlled drug white powders start being seen in increasing numbers by US customs again, not only do I doubt the raws business will be returning in any meaningful way, I think it’ll be suppressed even more.
Anyone deciding to give it another shot in China is taking a huge risk. If their behavior threatens to cause the just lifted tariffs to be reimposed, they might find themselves making up for the economic losses to China in a very personal way.
China’s illicit forced organ harvesting industry has drawn condemnation from U.S. lawmakers and international human rights organizations.
www.freedomunited.org